Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (healthified)

Hi, I am Stephanie and I live in Dallas, TX. Several of you might be visiting Food and Fitness 4 Real for the first time after meeting me at Bloggy Boot Camp this weekend, so I thought I would tell you a little more about myself.

About four years ago, I started a family blog about my kids, family and the craziness of being a wife and a mom who also has a full-time career to manage. After having my two kids in less than three years, I was exhausted all the time and felt like I never had time to take care of myself. Something had to change.

Over the past two years, I have been making healthy changes to my food and fitness habits; like eating real food, joining a food co-op, cooking more meals at home and training for half marathons (I ran FOUR last year). I will admit, there are times that I still struggle to get a healthy meal on the table after working all day or skip the gym for a week at a time. However, one of my main goals is to be a healthy role model for my kids and to teach them to make healthy choices every day. Starting this blog became a way to share my story about what it looks like for a real mom trying to balance real life with healthy living.

One of my favorite things to do is bake. Cookies, cakes, muffins, banana bread, scones and pies are my weakness and I think they taste better when baked fresh in my own kitchen. While I do believe in indulging in sweets in moderation, I try to “healthify” traditional recipes so I can indulge in them more often!

4 Real Fact: Healthify is a real word. You just read it on the internet and everything you read on the internet must be true.

These healthy oatmeal chocolate cookies have been adapted from a traditional cookie recipe but I have made substitutions for the butter, sugar and white flour. These cookies taste the best right when they come out of the oven but can last up to three days in an airtight container. You can also freeze the leftover cookies and take out single servings as an after school treat for the kids. Just place the frozen cookies on a plate and microwave cookies for 20-25 seconds.

Because these cookies have very little butter, then do NOT spread out while they bake. I used a teaspoon to scoop out the batter then I flattened it into a cookie shape with my fingers on the baking sheet. You can tell they are done when they start to turn golden brown around the edges. These cookies are not super sweet, are slightly chewy and satisfy my sweet tooth without going overboard on the calories.* The sweetness comes from the applesauce, banana and a small amount of honey. (*See nutritional fact comparison below).

Earlier this week I baked over 100 cookies to bring to Bloggy Boot Camp. The first 50 people to find me on Saturday will get to sample my healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will be tweeting where to find me during the day, but I will give you a hint now: just look for the girl with short blonde hair wearing bright green jeans.

Yes, I will be wearing green jeans. I like to stand out in a crowd. I also figured it would help people find me since I will be giving out cookies!

If your kids are like mine, the first thing they will ask you when you get home from the BBC conference is “What did you bring me?” In fact, my kids ask me that when I return home from a trip to Target. Tell them you brought home this delicious cookie recipe and immediately bake them a batch of hot out of the oven cookies. They may still be mad that you didn’t bring them something home, but their mouths will be too full of cookies to complain.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Healthified)

Servings – 20 servings, 2 cookies per serving

Prep time – 10 minutes, Bake time – 10-12 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup oat flour

2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 egg whites

1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, applesauce, egg whites, yogurt, mashed banana, honey and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Press down with the back of the spoon (or use your fingers) to flatten the dough into a round cookie shape. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container for up to three days.

*In case you were wondering, here are how the nutritional facts for these cookies stack up. Two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies contain approximately 100 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of sugar while two traditional chocolate chips cookies made with butter, white flour, white and brown sugar contains approximately 275 calories, 14 grams of fat and 23 grams of sugar.